Abyss of Dreams
by Sweetatoo
Summary: AU. There's always a line between dream and reality, but that strongly supported theory is broken by the appearance of a mysterious young girl, and now it's all up to him to figure out how and why.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass**.

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'

_Their hands were touching, grasping each other. Yet they didn't._

_Their bodies were so close to one another. Yet they weren't._

_They were both floating in the darkened water._

_Wherever her hands moved, so did his as if they didn't want to be separated._

_And she mouthed the two words that now he's able to interpret. 'Save me…'_

The next thing he knew, he was lying full awake on his comfortable bed, staring straight at the low ceiling above, listening to the continuously ticking sounds of the alarm clock located on the bedside table.

Bringing up his hand, he rubbed his tired eyes with the knuckles. "Not again," he muttered wearily.

'

"You're having that dream again?" Said the brown-haired teen as he and his friends were staying in line and deciding whether to get just pizza or regular lunch. A decision that needed to be reexamined everytime they went to the cafeteria during classes break.

"Ah, and it gets clearer each time," replied Lelouch.

"Let's get pizza and sit down. I'm tired," chimed in Kallen.

"You fell asleep during history. Are you Ok?" Asked Shirley worriedly.

"Blame the teachers. I had to stay up till after midnight to get all the research papers done, and not just one, several of them are due on the same day." The red head couldn't help heaving a small sigh. "I miss high school days."

"I know right? I'm flunking physics now; I regretted that I even took that class."

_Typical girls' conversation, _thought Lelouch as he shook his head, smiling slightly.

"Ok, we're getting pizza then," concluded Suzaku. He then turned his attention to his best friend, "so about this dream, tell me more about it. It seems quite intriguing if you ask me."

"Well, it's just like what I told you before. But this time, the images seemed more vivid and…" _Heartfelt, as though I could actually feel her emotions. _That last thought stayed in his head, however, afraid to come out, lest he be called crazy.

"And?" Suzaku prompted.

"And… it scares me," a partial truth.

"We're talking about your dream again?" Kallen queried when her conversation with Shirley came to an end.

"Don't you think you need to see the therapist about this?" Said the orange-haired girl concernedly. "I mean dreams are usually significant, they could foretell you something important in the future."

Lelouch shook his head. "I doubt it. I have never seen this girl before in my life. How could it affect me if I had no idea who she was?"

"Good point," nodded Suzaku deliberately. "But Shirley was right, you need to talk to an adult about this. Someone who can actually help you out, not a bunch of clueless teenagers." He laughed. Apparently, he was referring to this particular gang.

"I don't think we should make a big deal out of this," Lelouch said hesitantly, "the upcoming exams probably got the best of me and it's making me dream up weird stuff."

Suddenly, a hand was placed gently on his shoulder, causing him to turn around and found it was Shirley. "Lelouch," she said, "promise me that if this gets worse, you will go see an adult. Promise me that." It wasn't a request but an order.

Lelouch could not resist that, he therefore nodded. "Fine, I will."

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**A/N: **I know I have to finish my other story that I started decades ago but this idea is soo irresistible that I just had to write it down... And I'm fully aware that I made this particular excuse for all of my stories so far, but I really need something fresh right now, something to distract myself from the writer's block on that story and the tedious, hard studies I've been doing :S

Ok, enough of my rantings. Hope you guys liked the first chapter even though it's pretty short lol.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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Closing the advance Calculus textbook, he couldn't help letting out a relieved sigh as he tilted his head backwards to crack his long, weary neck a little from all the tedious and long study he'd been doing since he got home from school today.

Glancing at the stack of books on the desk, Lelouch just knew too well that he only had one down and still three more subjects to go. Maybe taking advance classes really _did_ have its own challenges in college.

Running a hand through his soft raven locks, he picked up the alarm clock and gave it a quick look. Stricken by the fact that its bright blue screen read 6:45 p.m., he mentally cursed his deep engrossment in the learning process that he didn't even notice how much his stomach was growling until it hit its own limit. Stretching his arms out high over the head that satisfied the muscles immediately, Lelouch pushed the chair back and stood up,

Stacking the papers neatly and orderly on the table, he proceeded to leave the room.

The average-sized apartment seemed so warmly lit in the yellow lights during the cold and stale winter season. December was approaching and so far the weather was turning icy cold with all the leaves of trees planted near his apartment already falling down, leaving the branches decorated only with the sheer white snow and its frozen flakes.

A tiny smile then split his face as he took a small framed picture located on the living table in his hands. "Good evening, Nunnally," he whispered softly and brushed a kiss on the glass.

His sister, whom he loved so much, had passed away two years ago when he was still staying at their old house, readying to leave for college. Nunnally was probably the one girl that he truly appreciated and adored from the bottom of his heart. The only one whom he could come to for comfort whenever he felt a turmoil going on inside him, and she would always listen and offered him necessary advices. Moreover, she seldom questioned why he would do something so stupid in the first place and then regretted it; she was already there for him, being his guide star, and gave him big, comfortable and loving hugs whenever he desired for some.

The lung cancer had robbed him of his most beloved person in the whole wide world.

He thought he could never get over it. He remembered the days, weeks, months after that horrid news that his sister was no longer here with him and that she had already passed on and he should be silently happy for her, since the disease had been torturing her pretty bad for the past few months, physically and mentally. When the news hit him head-on in the face, he fully reckoned that the world was crumpling down, shattering into million pieces around him. He didn't want to believe that; he forced his mind into an ignorant state, in which his thought waves kept repeating themselves over and over again that his sister didn't die; she was still here alongside him, blissful, and that it was all simply a prank she reserved for him to test his unconditional love for her.

He was almost sent to the psychiatric hospital for that had it not been for the constant encouragement of his best friends.

Now, he was doing better than he had anticipated. He had overcome the excessive sorrow and to remind himself of his precious person, he had put a picture of Nunnally in a small, nice floral decorated frame, and placed it on the living table. And, everyday, he would pick it up, wish her a good day and plant a soft, light kiss on the glass. That's all he had left of her now.

Carefully putting the frame back to its proper place, Lelouch withdrew his hand and straightened up. He then headed toward the kitchen, all the unforgettable memories of his younger sibling moved back toward their rightful places in the corridor of memories deep in his subconscious mind, currently thinking of various recipes he could try out for dinner today. Living alone had its own advantages, he realized, it helped better a man, housework-wise.

At last, he gave in to the tempting recipe that he just learned on the internet a couple of days ago, he set off to get a kettle. Slowly pouring in a good amount of purified water, he placed it on the stove and turned on the gas.

That's when he felt a cool breeze blowing past him.

Spinning around, his dark eyebrows furrowed together as a knowledge that he had closed all of the windows unfolding in his head. Yet another breeze blew by and he couldn't help but shuddered.

Leaving the stove on, he moved around to check on the windows. He indeed had locked all of them. So where did those breezes come from?

"Probably my mind's playing trick on me," he said aloud, though no one was there, in an effort of calming his nerves. It's logical since he had just reminisced his sister a moment ago, for crying out loud.

Giving his slender shoulders a shrug, he resumed his tasks, trying to busy himself with the steps of the complicated recipe, and soon enough, he had forgotten about the mysterious winds.

'

"Done!" He exclaimed in triumph.

Looking back at the piles of workbooks and textbooks, Lelouch couldn't help but felt proud of himself for finishing all of them before bed time, and now he could sleep in peace without the guilt of uncompleted task eating away at him.

Reaching out one hand to pull the bookbag closer, Lelouch proceeded to put all the necessary materials for the next day inside, then walked toward the closet to pick the clothes and laid it out on the bed, lest he should be in a rush state tomorrow morning.

Finally, with all the duties done, the raven-haired teen picked up the alarm clock and set the time as usual.

Setting it on the table, he quickly crawled under the warm and snug blanket, feeling as though his eye-lids were ready to close at any moment's notice. The explicit sleepiness was starting to drift toward him.

Lelouch absolutely believed that in such a fatigued state, his mind would welcome sleep without any hesitation, thus shutting off all the strange, eerie dreams he'd been having lately.

He should have known better.

_His violet orbs opened slowly and met with a pretty face opposite from him._

_She reached out her hands and placed them against his palms._

_They felt cold, or was he expecting a cozy warm to surge through him at that instant?_

_He curled up his fingers, she followed suit._

_He pressed his frame further against her, so did she._

_That's when he realized something. Something was in the way, something was separating them, their worlds... An invisible barrier._

_

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_Thank you for reading and reviewing!_  
_


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for reading and giving feedback!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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**'

Massaging his temples with the long fingers, Lelouch couldn't help suppressing a sigh. He hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night due to the eerie dream, and out of the blue, Suzaku phoned him this morning, heralding that they would be having a mock exam in calculus today (where and how he got that information, Lelouch had no clue but it was affirmed), making the raven-haired teen almost tumble on the sidewalk.

_Who was she? _Lelouch thought somberly, his face grave. _Why does she keep appearing in my dreams? I'm pretty sure I have never seen the girl before. Was Shirley right? Am I really mental and need help desperately? Are those dreams foreshadowing something? Do I need to talk to a councilor about this?_

_I'm out of my mind… _was his last thought before he heard someone yell. "Hey what are you doing!"

It was followed quickly by numerous honking.

HONK! HONK! HONK!

Lelouch looked up with bewilderment evident on his face, his limps and mouth went slacked as he stared straight ahead at an oncoming truck that was going at him with full force, showing no signs of stopping.

To his left, the traffic light flashed a red color for pedestrians. It must have been on a while ago but he was too engaged in his own thoughts that he paid no attention to the surroundings and now looked at the awful result.

He was going to be run over and die a meaningless death.

Too late to make an escape. The sharp-piercing honking of the truck drowned out all the cries of the other people and its wheels kept dragging on, showing no mercy for its poor victim.

Lelouch shut his eyes tightly, hands balling into a fist. _Is this the end… Nunnally?_

Then, _Do you really want to die, boya?_ A voice sounded somewhere in his head.

The next thing he felt was not the hideous crushing of his bones but a strong shove, which sent him five feet away from his spot, toward the pavement with him landing abashedly on his butt.

The truck passed by as if nothing had just happened. Its driver turned his head to stare curiously at the supposedly dead teen, frowning. "You OK there, buddy?" he called out, sounding doubtful himself.

Lelouch could only nod speechlessly.

"How did you do that?" a young woman gasped. "You just like… flew."

"I…"

"Maybe miracles do exist after all," an old man commented. "Perhaps your time is not now."

"But he flew!"

"How is that even possible?"

"What truly matters is that there isn't a red pool of blood on the street with scattered bones and flesh, so we should all be grateful." Several murmurs followed that in agreement.

Lelouch was still sitting there, not bothering to get up or act blissfully that he'd escaped the eye of God of Death. Instead, among the small crisis arousing around him, he was still staring straight ahead at where he had been just a moment ago. _Do you want to die, boya_? The sound of a whisper still resonated inside his head.

* * *

"So there's no harm inflicted on you?" Kallen inquired as the foursome sauntered home.

"I told you I'm fine. I managed to get out of the way before it hit me." No way could he have told them the truth, if he truly wished to be sent to the psychiatric hospital for good, that is.

"You really got me worried lately you know," the orange-haired girl heaved a small sigh, "if you keep being careless like that, you'll get killed eventually."

"I'll try not to before I graduate," he muttered.

"C'mon girls, give him a break," Suzaku chimed in, chuckling, "he's alright now. That's all that matters right?"

"Thank you, Suzaku," it was Lelouch's turn to chuckle. He could indeed rely on his best friend to pull him out of these persistent situations.

The foursome strolled for a while until they reached the first destination. "All right, I'm off. See you at school tomorrow," the raven-haired teen called out as he waved at them, and earned many 'see ya's in return.

He watched them walk away until his friends were out of sight. Only then he turned toward his apartment and unlocked the door.

Now back in his regular and homey environment, Lelouch took off the carefree mask that he always wore during school times and replaced it with a frightened and anxious face.

He couldn't help sliding down onto the floor with his back against the door. A strong turmoil was boiling at the pit of his stomach, causing him to close his tired eyes. And this time, there was no one to comfort him, to give him protective hugs while convincing him that everything would be OK.

This morning, he was so close to the God of Death's grasp. If the latter reached out his hand a little bit further, he'd surely have the former by now in his iron grip. Nevertheless, he didn't – he _couldn't, _because someone had intervened, and that someone was the girl in his dream.

How could it be possible?

Lelouch put his chin on the knees and wrapped his arms around his head, trying to calm his nerves. Was he still dreaming when that happened? Did he really have superpower of his own to fly out of that life-threatening situation? But more importantly, _how_ could she save him if she were merely a fragment of his dream?

There's only one way to find out.

With a determined look set on his handsome features, Lelouch picked himself up from the spot and walked toward his bedroom. Making sure all the shades and curtains were closed, he proceeded toward the comfortable bed and flopped down on it, regardless of changing out like he usually did, and shut his bright violet orbs, welcoming sleep with arms wide open.

_He leisurely opened his eyes and as expected, a pair of eyes stared back at him._

_The deep and dolorously golden eyes._

_He slowly brought up his hands and placed them against the barrier._

_She mirrored his actions, and floated in closer to the invisible frame._

_Then without warning, he pounded on it as if trying to break it, to get into her world or vice versa._

_She shook her head, mouthing something._

_He didn't understand. Shaking his own head, he pounded on the wall once again; his behavior reflected desperation._

_She shook her head more vigorously this time, and pulled in quite close, suggesting him to do the same._

_And he did._

_A word escaped her lips. He's shocked to find out what that was. _

_Closing his eyes, he tried to settle down his mind._

_One, two, three…_

_Then, everything broke loose. The shield was crumpling down, swarms of bubbles floated up past them, and before he knew it, he was falling down deep into the abyss of darkness._


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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Lelouch's eyes fluttered open slowly. He had to blink a couple of times in an effort to clear the hazy images and to get clearer, vivid ones.

At last, as his violet orbs started to adjust to the darkness of the room, he turned his head slightly to one side to steal a glance at the alarm clock. It read 8:30 p.m. So he was out for quite some time now.

Yawning, he gave his body a good stretch before dragging an arm up over his forehead, disheveling his drooping bangs. "What a weird dream," he whispered, "so at the end I just… fell down and nothing actually happened?"

"Not quite, boya."

He almost rolled off the bed at the sound of a taunting female voice.

"Who's there?" he yelled, sitting up immediately. His roving eyes quickly scanned across the room for the source of the mysterious voice, and to his puzzlement he found it.

There, standing casually at the foot of his bed was a teenage girl with straight and long hair that cascaded down to the small of her back. Her green waterfall-like hair was so shiny that it, as a matter of fact, reflected some of the silvery lights of the white moon that came through the almost transparent curtains hung over his large window. Even in the darkness with only the high full moon as a main source of light, Lelouch could still make out those golden orbs of hers. The sadness in them was fading gradually, it seemed.

She was indeed the girl from his haunting dreams.

To make matters worse, a smirk was playing on her lips.

"Oh," he said flatly, "I get it. I'm still dreaming; I'm not awake yet." With that, he flopped down again and buried his face in the pillow. His breathing was rather shaky.

"Yes, you _are_ awake," was her calm reply.

"Still dreaming," was his muffled response.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Fine, boya. Just don't faint when you wake up and I'm still here."

"Still dreaming!" His tone was more ferocious this time.

A pause. And he breathed out a sigh of relief.

He was definitely dreaming.

"You know, for a boy, your room is rather neatly organized."

Unable to take it anymore and fully having serious doubts in his mental health, he shot up from the bed, yanking the pillow violently off his face. His hair was a jungle's mess. "OK, that's it! Who the hell are you?"

"Hm," she turned toward him with a slightest annoyed face, "is this how you introduce yourself to a lady? How rude."

"I'm not introducing myself to you," he retorted, "I'm merely demanding you to tell me who you are and how in the world you got into my room."

"I'm sure you know the answers to both of them," she replied sternly.

"Stop being so secretive," he growled lowly, "just answer the questions."

"I don't feel like telling you something you already know, boya," she responded sluggishly.

"Why you..." then it hit him.

"Okay, fine," he mumbled after a while. "I got the first one. But at least you can tell me the latter."

"You got that one too."

"My patience is wearing thin, for your information."

She rolled her eyes once again. "What does that have to do with me? You keep wondering about things your mind already has the solutions to."

Then it clicked. His eyes widened three times larger than their original sizes.

"No way…," he murmured, "you can't possibly just appear from my dreams. That's ludicrous!"

"Well, it's the fact." She then floated toward him. her feet dangling in the air freely. Letting out a small yelp, the raven-haired teen jumped backward and in the process, hit his back hard against the wall and pain shot through his spine. Pain wasn't the major concern at the moment, however.

She frowned. "What's the matter?"

"You're…" He gulped. "You're a ghost?"

"Hm," she paused for a split of second as if contemplating the inquiry. "'Ghost' isn't such a nice word for a young girl like me, isn't it? And to be honest, it's sort of frightening to hear or say that. So we should settle with 'a fragment of your dream'."

He shook his head. "Whatever, it's messed up. I don't know what's going on here anymore. How did you get out from my dreams anyway if you truly were a mere fragment of them?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions," she smirked playfully.

"And you're not going to answer them, are you?" He queried with narrowed eyes.

"Apparent not." She grinned. But when she saw his disgusted expression, she couldn't help heaving a sigh. "It's just not time for you to know yet."

"Fine. Just tell me how you got out and I'll drop it."

She then floated even closer toward him, an action that only caused him to flinch and produce more ceaseless goosebumps on his arms. When she was only inches from him, she whispered, "Because you believe in me."

"What?"

"Back then when you're still dreaming, you tried to believe in me and it worked wonders."

"That's only because you told me to!" He countered impulsively. "I thought I was returning the favor for this morning. If I knew something like this would happen, I'd never set you free."

"That hurts." Her delicate green eyebrows knitted together as she crossed her arms over her breasts.

"What do you expect me to say? For God's sake, now I have a gho- I mean, 'fragment of my dream' standing here and talking with me." The words in the single quotation marks were filled with heavy sarcasm.

"It's all because you wanted to return the favor, did you not?"

"But I didn't expect this to happen at all! I thought there's a line between reality and dream."

Three times in a row, she rolled her eyes impatiently. "You're such persistent boy."

"And you're an ignorant ghost," he hissed through gritted teeth.

Her green eyebrow quirked up in evident annoyance. "I thought I told you to call me something else. Oh who am I kidding, call me whatever you want. I don't care."

"Exactly what I thought," he muttered.

"But I actually have a name, you know."

Lelouch mumbled something along the lines of 'and I don't give a damn about it.'

"it's C.C.," she said in sheer tranquility. "Yours is?"

He frowned slightly, as if debating whether he should reveal his name to a complete stranger whom he only met in his dreams. "Lelouch," he said at last, thinking it wouldn't hurt to let her know. It's not like she could curse him with just knowing his name... right?

"No last name?"

"What is _your _last name then?" he snapped.

She had to fight back the urge to roll her eyes the fourth time – correction, she couldn't keep count of that any longer. "You're so rude to your savior, boya."

"Reality check, I'm talking to a ghost here."

This time, she resorted to ignore him completely and floated toward his luxurious bed, curling down on it when she discovered a cozy and favorable spot.

"W-what do you think you're doing?" he stammered, eyes widened.

"Sleeping."

"Next to me?"

C.C. turned her head toward him, her long hair swaying in the process of doing so, a faux sweet smile flickered on her pretty face. "What's the harm? You can't try anything perverted on me since I'm a ghost anyway."

"That's not what I meant!" He added an octave higher, eyes ten times larger than they originally were, and face flushed a deep scarlet.

"Whatever you said, " an ever taunting smirk played on her rosy lips. "Good night, boya."

Realizing there's no use in furthering this silly argument with this particular stubborn girl, Lelouch heaved a loud sigh as he, too, slid back under the covers with his back to her. No longer felt hungry or a strong desire for something to fill his empty and growling stomach, he slowly closed his orbs and awaited leisurely for sleep to come.

_Great… Now completely out of the blue I have a stranger sleeping next to me. And not just any stranger, but a ghost, a completely annoying ghost, who is supposedly a 'fragment of my dreams'. Great, just great…_

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Thank you for reading and reviews are of course appreciated!_  
_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

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**'**

"What are you doing?" Lelouch hissed as lowly as he could through tightly gritted teeth.

"Taking a walk, what else?"

"Besides that, who gave you the permission to get out?"

"Oh my, since when had you become a boss of me?"

"Since I accidentally pulled you into this world," he replied with bitterness heavily filled his voice as his pace increased.

"But it's boring at the apartment," C.C. retorted, "all I do is crashing on the couch and staring at the TV. And did I forget to leave out the part that I can't even flip the channels?"

"So you decided to follow me instead?"

"Pretty much," she smirked exuberantly.

_I'm doomed…_

As if reading his mind, she shrugged casually, "Don't break a sweat boya. You're the only one who can see me."

"That only makes it worse!"

Many inquisitive stares on the busy street befell him. Lelouch zipped his mouth immediately and picked up his pace. A faint pink color quickly dusted his cheeks.

"They must think you're crazy," C.C. remarked nonchalantly after a few seconds.

"I _am _crazy," he mumbled, "maybe I should make an appointment with the psychological doctor later."

"I agreed."

A very frustrated sigh escaped his lips.

They walked for about ten minutes in utter silence. None bothered saying anything to each other.

"You should have stayed home," Lelouch said at last, breaking the comfortable quietness.

"I already told you the reasons why," she heaved an impatient sigh.

"But I can't have you tailing me like this 24/7."

C.C. turned herself so that she was floating in a lying position with hands behind her head and eyes glued to the cloudless, bright skies. "Then don't look at it that way," she responded.

"What way am I supposed to look at then?" he inquired grudgingly.

"Just think of it like I'm taking a stroll, no harm done."

Lelouch stopped abruptly in his tracks, his eyebrows furrowed together incredulously as he looked at the floating figure next to him. "So you're going home after we arrive at my school?"

"Who said that?" she let out a teasing chuckle.

"And I should have known better," he replied drily, resisting the urge to face-palm himself.

* * *

"Morning Lelouch!" exclaimed Shirley with too much enthusiasm for his current mood.

"Morning Shirley," he managed.

"How was it?" Suzaku asked as he sauntered closer toward the gang.

"How was what?"

"Your dreams. Did you see anything stranger?"

Suddenly, Lelouch found the white snow beneath his feet so irresistibly fascinating. "Ah, well…"

"Well, you see, it's…" Obviously, he was stalling himself, unable to come up with a convincing excuse. How could he pull this off without looking like a complete psycho himself? Sure, he should just come out and say, "Oh, you won't believe this, but last night the girl in my dream actually came out and talked to me! Kind of resembling 'The Ring' movie, don't you think? Definitely his friends wouldn't send him off back to the psychological hospital right after that.

A snicker was heard from his right, pulling Lelouch out of his reverie. "Go on, Lelouch. It's completely normal for you to talk about me." Sarcasm was easily detected in her tone.

"It's…" Anxious stares befell him. "Nothing," he concluded quietly.

"Wow, took you long enough to say that," commented Suzaku as he quirked up a curious eyebrow.

"Sorry, I just couldn't remember what happened; it's probably not significant." A perfect lie.

"Your paleness completely contradicted you," said Kallen as she leaned in closer, and Lelouch couldn't help letting out a yelp. Since when did she appear here?

"It's really nothing." He protested. "And personal space please?"

Shirley brought up her hand and placed it against his cheek. Warm skin vs. cold skin. "Oh! You're freezing Lulu!"

"No, I'm fine, really. I-"

"Here, put it on." She then quickly unwound her scarlet scarf and wrapped it around his neck, ignoring his rising complaints.

Lelouch's usual savior in these abashing situations, Suzaku, now just stood there with his arms crossing his chest, not bothering to interfere this time. Enjoyment clearly evident on his face, and he wasn't the only one. 'A fragment of his dreams' was also floating nearby, a sly smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. "Look who's got special treatments from two girls so early in the morning," she cooed in a faux loving tone.

"C.C." He growled lowly and menacingly.

"What?" asked Shirley.

"Nothing."

* * *

C.C. was sitting in one of the empty seats scattered across the whole classroom with one hand uninterestedly twirled a lock of long green hair while the other propped up her chin. Her golden orbs indolently roved about the college's front courtyard from the window, in which nothing excited actually occurred.

There and here, a couple of students left the school and went to the yard. From there, they would meet their friends and proceeded to leave for lunch together. Their laughter and the sound of conversations were heard and echoed faintly throughout the not-so-crowded classroom.

C.C. couldn't help but giving her body a good, long and satisfied stretch; no one would see her doing it anyway so there's really no reason to feel embarrassed or exposed – well, except for a certain raven-haired teen. That guy, however, seemed to be too engrossed in his studies that she highly doubt he would even notice her if she made many grunting or moaning sounds.

Finally, unable to suppress her boredom any longer, she wafted towards him.

She was right; he was too engaged in his own things.

Leaning over his shoulder, C.C. peeked at his notebook.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Observing," was her simple reply as she started reading his notes.

"Go away. You're making me feel weird."

"Nothing perverted, I hope." A bold smirk crossed her face, and he almost gagged.

"That's unnecessary," he mumbled, "what I meant was the prickling feeling on the back of my neck!"

"Now that's unnecessary," her turn to retort tauntingly, "you're not supposed to feel me since I'm a ghost."

"Believe it or not, I can."

"Hm, our bonds run deeper than I thought."

"What is it?" Lelouch asked as if he didn't quite catch it, but she knew he did perfectly.

"Nothing."

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice sounded from his right. "_Who_ are you talking to?"

Lelouch quickly averted his eyes towards the source and found a pair of perplexed deep gray orbs staring straight at him.

Stammering, Lelouch tried to come up with as many excuses as humanly possible in his head in an effort to drive the girl away from the particular train of thoughts that was apparently circulating in her head at the moment, which was 'oh my gosh, I can't believe the guy who always gets A's in all the classes is actually insane!'

"You must be hearing things." Lame, he knew, but that was all he could have thought of.

Lelouch then flashed a pretentiously warm smile at her.

The girl knitted her brows in suspicion but decided not to push the subject further. Giving her shoulders a small shrug, she resumed her taking notes task.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips. _That was close, _he mused.

"I can tell that she _internally_ thinks you're crazy," the green-haired 'fragment of his dreams' remarked as she hopped on the desk next to his with her long, exposed and transparent legs dangling over its edge.

A faint pink color swiftly brushed his cheeks at the alluring sight. Lelouch had to cough.

"Ara, someone is unsettled," a knowing smirk then split C.C.'s face.

"Witch."

"Excuse me?" That unfamiliar voice was heard yet again. Harsher this time, and he just knew he was caught dead like a deer in the headlights.

"Aah… _Which _page are we on?"

The girl couldn't help but raised one dubious eyebrow. Seeing this raven-haired teen make a mistake in grammar was just like watching Suzaku lose in an amateur, meaningless fight.

"Hm, you're on the right page," she commented as one finger pointed toward his textbook, "oh and by the way, it's _what, _not _which_, Lelouch." She said ever so derisively. It's quite rare to catch this particular raven-haired teen making a mistake in studies, so obviously she's enjoying this.

Lelouch could literally feel his face getting warmer as if he'd been bathing in a hot spring for such a long time. He then quickly took an unwavering interest in the pen he was holding tightly as he murmured, "thanks."

A snicker was then heard next to him. "Very smooth, _warlock."_

He glowered hard at her. Instead of trying to make a fool out of himself three times in a row, he resorted to the last solution. Resentfully pulled the notebook closer, Lelouch quickly scribbled on it, caring less about how squishy his handwriting was starting to look like. At last, he pushed it slightly to one side so the green-haired girl could read.

_May I ask where that 'warlock' came from?_

C.C. smirked while leaning in a bit closer, this time using her elbow to prop her half-lying body up against the desk, and as much as Lelouch wanted to flinch, he had to refrain himself from doing so since he noticed a certain girl was paying more than necessary attention to him.

"Well, since you called me a witch and you're the only company I have, it's fairly reasonable that you earned a nickname 'warlock' as well." She replied casually.

_What if I refused?_

"It's useless. There's no way you can stop me from calling you that, is there?"

_You really are a witch._

"So we're stuck with that name now? Rather than a ghost or 'fragment of your dreams'?"

He pondered this for a few seconds. _Witch suits you more, _he quickly wrote down.

"Very well," a chuckle escaped her lips. "Warlock."

Lelouch tore the paper off grudgingly and crumpled it into a tight ball, his glaring eyes never left her tranquil golden orbs.

* * *

"Ah!" exclaimed Suzaku as he stretched out his long limbs. "I'm so happy the mock exam of literature is finally over!"

"I hope I did well on it. There are some questions that I simply guessed," Shirley confessed while poking at her home-made food.

Kallen spoke after swallowing down a mouthful of sushi. "Relax, it's just a mock exam. It's not like they're actually counting the marks."

"I know, but still…" Shirley mused, then picking up her spoon and digging into the rice. As her spoon was halfway to her mouth, she saw that Lelouch hadn't been bothered with his own lunch. "What's wrong, Lelouch?" she asked. "You're not eating."

The raven-haired teen shook his head, looked at her and replied tiredly. "I'm not hungry. Today has been, ah, a long and tiresome day."

"But we've only been through two periods." Suzaku chimed in after he'd swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti. "And I thought you loved school," he added incredulously.

_Not anymore, I've been troubled by some unseen force lately so I couldn't really focus, _that's what Lelouch wanted to spill out but restrained himself from doing so. Instead, he smiled and shook his head once more, leaving the interpretation of his actions to Suzaku to figure out on his own.

Suddenly, he felt strange. As if… as if he wasn't being followed anymore. Stealing a couple of glances this way and then, he caught what he'd been looking for. C.C. wasn't there next to him as usual. She was standing far away, next to the large window that allowed so much light in that the whole cafeteria was lit up brightly as if it were a royal ballroom where many lights were required.

She was just standing there, leaning against the wall next to the grand window, very still as if she wasn't bothered at all by the lights shooting through her transparent form, with arms crossed her chest and eyes staring straight out at the school yard as if she's searching for something and at the same time searching for nothing. The sarcastic expression had gone from her face, and was replaced by a lonely mask. Her eyes, he noticed, were filled with sadness and longing. And she didn't seem so surreal or fake anymore; she seemed just like any normal teenage girl, a _living_ normal teenage girl.

Lelouch couldn't help but stare at her, and all of sudden, he almost- _almost- _felt bad for treating her rather poorly this morning.

_She said something about this isn't the time for me to know about her origin yet, _Lelouch mused, tuning out his friends' conversation to focus on his own train of thoughts, _what does that mean? Does that mean if I tried to 'believe' in her more, I'll learn about it? Like what happened in my dream last night? If that's the case, then…_

Lelouch had a mission to accomplish now.

* * *

Thank you for reading, and reviews are very appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

* * *

**'**

"We got to stop by the market on the way home to get some groceries," Lelouch said to C.C. as they started to walk home. He had to be careful in maintaining the volume of his voice; he really couldn't afford to let people think he'd gone crazy, again, by talking to himself. That already happened after Nunnally's death, and to be honest, it took a lot of effort to let them trust his stable mentality again. He couldn't lose that trust now.

"I assume you cook for yourself," C.C. said.

"Of course. All college students have to, unless they live near their houses or prefer take-out food, which I don't."

"My next assumption is your house isn't around here," she asked while floating next to him, feet dangling freely in the air as if defying gravity and hands resting behind her back.

Lelouch's expression became slightly grim. The topic of his family life was never his favorite if he had to choose. He even felt uneasy sharing it with his closest friends, so let alone a stranger. "I don't want to talk about it," he answered at last.

And to his relief, she only gave a small shrug as if she understood his feelings "Whatever suits you, I don't mind really."

They went into the shop located near the train station, and he quickly pulled out the note that he kept track of all the ingredients in his house and ran through it. It saved him time while going through the aisles. At least he knew what to get instead of taking time thinking about what he needed and what he's running out of. This time was no exception. He went by the aisles like the wind, picking things up and dropping things that he deemed not really necessary. C.C. trailed quietly behind him, taking in his actions, and a mysterious smile crossed her face. This guy was really one of the kind; she had never met anyone who was so experienced with shopping like this before. It's almost like he'd been doing this for _years_, not just a couple of months in college. And that drew her back to her previous question to him concerning his family life and it dawned on her why he preferred not to talk about it. Suddenly, she felt that they were connected deeper than she'd ever thought, and in more than just one way.

Lelouch paid the cashier after fifteen minutes and walked out of the shop, hands full of grocery bags. Both of them didn't say much on the way home. The walk home from the shop was peaceful and short and for once, C.C. didn't feel the need to break it with her sarcastic comments; she actually felt at peace just breathing in the clear evening air.

Just as they reached a corner that led to his house, a young boy appeared from the behind the pole. First look at him told C.C. that he was lost or maybe homeless? His clothes were dirtied, stained shirt untucked, black pants seemed so worn-out as if he'd fallen countless times and tore it. His black shoes were, of course, dirty as well. Not even his hair was neat. And his dark chocolate brown eyes, they were so… so expressionless for a young boy. Weren't kids supposed to be always cheerful?

"Hey little boy," Lelouch asked gently as he crouched down to level with him. "Are you lost?" Obviously, he had drawn the same conclusion as C.C. from the boy's appearance.

The boy nodded and he boldly reached out and tugged on Lelouch's uniform sleeve. "Can you take me to my house, sir? It's not far from here."

Before Lelouch could reply, C.C. beat him to it. "Ask him why he didn't go to the police." Police station is the perfect place you go to when you get lost. Everyone should know that, even a little kid. And frankly, something about that boy's neutral eyes made her feel unsettled.

Lelouch threw her a look that clearly implied _Be quite_, and turned to the boy. "Did you go to the police?" he asked and C.C. rolled her eyes.

The boy shook his head, and suddenly he brought up his hands and rubbed his eyes, voice hoarse. "I'm scared. They scare me." Then he cried. Figure. "My mom must be so worried now."

At this point, Lelouch couldn't resist his request anymore. He quickly stood up and transferred all the amount of bags onto one hand as he reached out his other hand, suggesting for the boy to take it, which he did immediately. "Where is it? I'll make sure you get home safely." Lelouch said.

A childish smile crept up his face as he pulled the teenager forward, all the while saying 'thank you' and 'it's not very far from here'.

C.C. could only trail behind. The uneasiness intensified.

* * *

"Hm… you live here?" queried Lelouch uncertainly after almost ten minutes when the group reached a neighborhood that was actually _far_ from his house. He cast a look around and realized this was a ghetto place. A place where he didn't know existed before, so let alone setting foot here. All the buildings had a gray atmosphere to them, and their walls filled with ugly and nasty graffiti that he didn't wish to see the second time. The dirty ground was littered with trash and it smelled, badly. There was also no one here, Lelouch thought that the boy's family must be spreading out and searching for him by now, yet there was no sign of anyone doing that.

This neighborhood was really degrading. Too terribly degrading, as matter of fact. How could a young boy live like this?

"So you live here?" Lelouch tried again when the boy didn't respond to him earlier. A small nod came from the boy and he never ceased pulling him forward. By now, the uneasiness in C.C. had transferred to Lelouch; its amount magnified.

Suddenly, without warning, the boy let go of his hand and ran forward. "Hey!" Lelouch called, alarmed. "Where are you go-"

His sentence was cut sharply as he saw a figure appear from the shadows cast by the tall, hideous buildings.

The new guy was tall, muscular. His copper-colored hair a mess, and was as dirty and unclean as the young boy's, only _he _looked more intimidating and scarier. To make it all worse, a sadistic smile was on his face. A face that you definitely don't want to ever see again in your whole life. A face that spelled trouble, death, and was pierced here and there. A face that wouldn't take mercy on anyone.

"I don't like where this is going," murmured C.C. Seemed like Lelouch was catching up on the situation, too.

Deliberately, he took a step back and was ready to flee at a moment's notice when he bumped into another figure behind. Swirling around, he met another thug, less scarier but still too bloodcurdling for his taste.

"Where you think you going, buddy?" asked the second thug. He then grabbed Lelouch's shoulders and threw him backward, sending him tumbling to the ground. A snicker erupted from the gangster. Apparently, he's taking pleasure in seeing that.

"Don't destroy him," the first thug warned, but judging from his tone it's obvious that he's enjoying himself too. "This type is way too easy to break. And I wanna toy with him for a little while."

"What do you want?" Lelouch managed without stuttering or sounding like a fool himself as he tried to stand up, though staggering slightly. But still, he wouldn't show weakness to these guys; he knew they loved to see that in their victims.

The first thug laughed as if it were the funniest and trendiest joke ever. Stupid. "What do _we_ want?" he repeated. "Your money of course, but before that, we'll beat you up. Man, we haven't beaten anyone up in a while, right?" he asked his companion, to which the second thug nodded vigorously. "Man, I haven't heard a plea and a blooding scream in soo long, I missed that!" the second thug answered zealously, laughing.

Being cornered by two physically strong guys, guys that couldn't be reasoned with, Lelouch knew he was as well as dead. If he couldn't survive a playful attack by Suzaku as a child, how could he survive a serious brawl fight between senseless guys who enjoyed fighting and probably killing? No way in hell.

"You can fight, right?" someone asked and he recognized that voice right away. C.C. A hint of hope evident in her tone; a hope that would get destroyed as soon as it's born.

"You think so? Of course not!" he almost screamed, and the thugs looked at him oddly.

"Who you talking to?" the two thugs asked in unison, and Lelouch didn't feel obligated to answer that, so he remained silent.

Then they laughed. Annoying. "I see he gone crazy," said one of the thugs while laughing. Then, out of the blue, he grabbed Lelouch's shoulder and planted a heavy kick in his stomach. The raven-haired teen let out an agonizing scream. He then crumbled to the ground, holding his stomach as tears sprung to his eyes, blurring his vision.

"That's what you get for not answering us," chided the first thug, who seemed to be the leader, as if they were in a traditional classroom and what happened was merely a mild, harmless punishment for disobedience.

Without waiting for a reaction from the gagging teen, the leader nodded to his companion, who grinned maniacally as he bent down and picked up the victim. Pleasure was too evident on his ugly face that C.C. wished she could kick it in, deforming it in the process.

"Huh," he said, studying the bruised Lelouch with mild interest as if he were a broken lab rat. "Doesn't seem like he gonna fight back."

"Doesn't seem like that type," the first thug observed, then he chuckled. "Our boy did a good job in bringing a defenseless man to us, no?"

_Our boy? _C.C. thought, bewildered. _Could it be… Oh gosh, why didn't I see that earlier?_ Searching the whole darkened valley in desperation in spite of the setting sun, which would make the feat more difficult, her eyes finally rested upon a familiar young figure hiding behind the gray building, observing the whole scene with both interest and fright mixed together, though the former more obvious.

C.C.'s eyes widened as everything fell into place. These gangsters weren't particularly aiming at Lelouch as their sole victim. They were aiming at _anyone-_ anyone who foolishly believed that kids would be scared of police, that is. The boy played the decoy role. He would stand around, try to look pathetic and sorry, so that whenever anyone passed by, he could pull the child-getting-lost act. And again, who foolishly believed his story would get trapped inside the dangerous net, like Lelouch.

She knew there's something _very_ wrong with his eyes the first time she saw him. Those weren't innocent eyes, they were the devil's eyes.

And for an incredibly smart guy, Lelouch was definitely _not _smart in these kinds of situation.

C.C. was quickly pulled out of her deduction as another bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the empty valley. Glancing sideways with a gasp, she saw her companion once again fall to the ground, hand clutching his bloody jaw, only this time the thug that hit him held him in place and elbowed him in the side, knocking air out of the poor guy. This time, there was no cry or scream. Just a silent grunt as Lelouch collapsed to the ground slowly, and laughter from the two hooligans filled the dirty valley. She could swear she'd heard some ribs breaking just now.

Staring at his beaten face, C.C. suddenly felt like her heart being squeezed to the point she could feel the blood coming out of it. "Lelouch?" she called, reaching out a trembling hand. It was a mere reflex; she knew too well she couldn't touch or feel him. However, when her hand touched his body, she let out a small surprised gasp as a cold sensation surged through her transparent form.

"No… Lelouch… you can't…" Complete sentences were so stubborn to obediently come out.

"Hey, you're dead?" asked the first thug, and C.C. threw him a deadly dagger-look that if he could see her, she's sure he'd have a heart-attack right now and then. "Oi, don't die yet. We're not done with you."

"Don't touch him!" C.C. snarled, though she's pretty sure he couldn't hear it. Just as he reached out his foot to touch Lelouch's still body, C.C. felt something bright and warm developing inside of her. Something so extraordinary and strangely sweet evolved inside her heart and mind. And it's so overwhelming that it engulfed her thoughts.

_Oh gosh, I'm dying… _came a distant voice. _The organs… they've stopped working… _

_L-Lelouch? _Okay, this was weird. This was her mind, this was _inside_ her head, and yet she could hear his voice? Clear as day to boot. She wasn't imagining things right?

_C.C.? _His voice sounded just as puzzled as hers. _What's going on? What are you doing in my head?_

_No, _answered C.C. mentally. This was seriously weird, she realized. _You're in my head._

_Impossible, it's my he-_

_Listen, we can talk about this later, _she interrupted as more urgent matter pressed upon them. _Right now, we should think of how to save you._

_Save me? _He chuckled, and it sent a shiver down her spine knowing that she could _feel _his chuckle in her mind. _Unless those guys can be settled over a chess match, I don't see any other alternative._

_I can save you, _she thought firmly, trying to push the fierceness through the bond to show that she truly meant it.

_Impossible._

C.C. took in a deep breath and nodded mentally. _Remember how you got me out of your dream by believing in me?_

His mental nod implied he remembered, and she continued her train of thought. _Do it again. I can only materialize when your believing in me reaches beyond the limits._

She wouldn't blame him if he brushed that aside as being absurd. Even to her, it sounded just the same. She knew that he'd been able to pull her out of his dreams because she had miraculously saved him that morning, though even now she herself wasn't sure how she did that. But right now, the chances of her materializing looked quite slim, but they had to try. Like he said, there's no alternative.

_You can do it, _she sent a soft and encouraging thought to him through the bond, _I know you can, Lelouch._

It was beyond describable what happened next. Right after she said that, C.C. could feel a strong pull imposed on her, forcing her mind to expand and her body suddenly got even warmer. The previous sweetness that initiated this strange bond was still there, only intensified this time causing her to close her eyes to enjoy the delight. And C.C. never felt more alive.

"I think he's dead," chuckled the gang leader, his voice showed no remorse whatsoever.

His buddy shook his head, sighing. "Aww too bad. I wanted to have more fun with him. These types are so easy and fun to toy with, but they so fragile!"

"I know rig- Urg!" All of sudden, he staggered. Then bringing up his hand to hold his stomach, his dark eyes widened in surprise. "What the?"

"What's the matter?" asked the second thug as he saw his friend's strange action. Then he, too, let out a yelp. "Something hit me!" he said, touching his chest.

"Who's there?" yelled the first thug. He and his hooligan turned here and there alarmingly with eyes searching desperately for the source of attacks. Just as they spotted a very, _very, _and almost invisible white spot push past them, a quick and heavy kick knocked both of them off their feet.

"What the hell! Who's there?" the leader screamed at the top of his lungs as frustration filled up his head. They were being ambushed and there was no clue who's attacking them. This could drive anyone crazy.

The second thug got up, massaging his forehead. "I thought I saw something," he said quickly, before another punch landed on his nose, breaking it in the process and a following deafening cry echoed the valley.

"Hey! You okay?"

"It hurt!"

"Screw this," the first thug muttered. He then got into position with fists holding up in front of him and back to the wailing buddy, ready for any kind of attack. Little did he know that this _kind _of attack was not what he'd expect at all. "Come out, you coward!"

Standing in front of the male teenager protectively, C.C. watched the scene with amusement. They had finally got a taste of their own medicine; she wondered what it must feel like. "Lelouch?" she said, turning around to look at the form lying behind her. And to her great relief, he stirred ever so slightly. He's still alive, that's all she needed to know.

"Listen, I need you to do me a favor. These guys won't give up unless _you _show them what you're capable of. Just tell me what to do, like where to hit. If they think you can do something supernatural, they'd run away with tails between their legs," said C.C.

Slowly and painfully, Lelouch propped his upper body up on his elbows. One of his violet eyes was horribly swollen to the point he could barely keep it open, while the other was just hardly doing fine. "To… to the right," he whispered in a very low voice even for a whisper. But C.C. caught that. She quickly ran toward the first thug who was staring at Lelouch with a slight bewilderment. While his attention was semi-focused on the other teen, C.C. got down and swept him off his feet the second time. As he's going down with a gasp, she got up with the speed of a cheetah and spun around skillfully to kick him in the right side. Hard.

The thug let out a low, painful grunt as his arms brought up and wrapped around his side, face clearly showed agony as he slid to the ground. C.C. looked back at Lelouch and nodded. Lelouch had to inhale deeply and a grunt came out, followed by his next sentence. "Second guy… arm…"

"What the… you…" The leader struggled as if trying to understand what's going on here while his eyes were seeing white spots dancing.

Silently complied, C.C. walked toward the other collapsed gang member who still held his broken nose and tears trailed down his face. Looking down at him, she couldn't hide her disgust. "Have a taste of your own medicine yet? Now you know what it feels to be beaten and tortured right?" And with that, she jumped down on his arm with as much force as she could muster. Another bloodcurdling scream bounced around the buildings.

"Stop! Stop! Please. Enough…" the second thug gagged as he rolled around, clutching his arm as though he thought by doing that he could heal it.

"Please stop. Stop whatever you're doing! We're sorry." cried the leader. Puzzlement, dread, and nervousness all evident on his sweaty face as he pleaded for Lelouch to stop.

Without waiting for another order, C.C. ambled toward him and kicked him again in the back.

"Ah!"

Tossing one last look at the pathetic hooligans, C.C. said dryly, "Serves you right." Then she started toward Lelouch. Bending down next to him, she could feel his uneven breathing; as if he had trouble getting air in and out, as if his lungs were too exhausted and wished to work no longer.

"We have to get you out here before more of them show up. Where's your phone? I'll get it for you."

No answer.

"Lelouch? Lelouch, can you hear me?"

_That's it, C.C. _A thought flooded to her. A gentle thought of his in spite of the situation and his messy physical state.

_What are you saying?_

_It's so dark… but peaceful here._

_What are you saying? _she repeated mentally. Panic in her voice. No, she couldn't let him die; not after everything they had just been through, after her efforts of trying to save him.

No mental reply. Lelouch was drifting toward the familiar abyss of darkness. Scared? Of course he's scared, but there's also something else there, something comforting coming his way. He's dying, but he wouldn't be alone. He'd be with his most beloved person in the world: Nunnally.

Falling and falling, Lelouch reached out his hand as if trying to grasp hold of something before darkness finally closed in. A voice, maybe. A voice that was calling his name, desperately. But he couldn't help it. His eyelids were so heavy all of sudden, and irresistible sleepiness was creeping up on him.

It was like falling deeply into an awaiting dream, only this time he wasn't sure if he'd ever wake up.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

Keep those reviews coming and the next chapters will come out quite fast, I can guarantee you that lol ^^


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

* * *

_'  
_

_Let's be together…_

_No, it's too soon for that. Not yet, not right now… You have to keep your promise…_

_My… promise?_

_You promised to have a good life, but you've never fought for it._

_Ahh, I'm sorry. But it's over, we can-_

_No, it's not… I love you, but I don't want you here now… Onii-sama._

Lelouch's eyes fluttered open and the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar white ceiling, and the first thought that crossed his mind was 'I'm still alive…?'

"Lelouch? Oh gosh, Lelouch, you're awake!"

Glancing sideways he saw someone rush over in the dimmed room, and couldn't quite make out who it was until said person leaned over him with long strand of orange hair falling softly onto his face.

"Sh… Shirley…" he whispered weakly and grunted. It hurt so much for such a small feat.

"Shh," she quickly reached out a finger to place onto his lips. "The doctor said you shouldn't do _any _physical activity at all for another three days," she spoke quietly.

Lelouch stared into her worried green eyes and couldn't help smiling. She really took it literally. Typical Shirley. His best girlfriend and how glad he was to see her again. Actually, he would happy to see just any living person because it's a solid proof that he wasn't dead.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, then added. "Wait, don't say anything, just nod your head for yes and shake it for no."

He smiled again and nodded.

"I'm so happy," she said, sitting down on the bed next to him and took his hand in hers, squeezing it slightly. "I'm very happy that you're alive and fine. Thank God for that. You really got me worried sick there, Lulu."

He frowned, indicating he had no idea what she's talking about, and her eyes widened.

"You don't remember?" she inquired, perplexed. "You were beaten terribly at that valley and had Suzaku not come in time to save you, who knows…" she trailed off. The thought of what would happen if Suzaku was just one second late was just too horrible for her to consider.

Then it hit like a cold wave of water splashed over him. Lelouch stirred slightly on the bed, his hand shook a bit as memories crawled back. The painful sensation of the event this afternoon was still too valid in both his mind and body. He then shook his head; Shirley raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" she asked, squeezed his hand tighter and he flinched. She yelped.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to."

A snicker came from the dark shadows of the empty wing, and Lelouch couldn't help twisting his head sideway to glance in that direction. His eyebrows rose.

"Hm, I think I should let you rest more," said Shirley awkwardly as she stood up. Smiling at him, she tucked him in gently as though he were a mere kid. "I'll be back tomorrow with Suzaku and Kallen. So, rest well, okay?"

She then walked toward the chair she had sat on and grabbed her purse. Before she could walk out of his vision, Lelouch called out in a hoarse voice. "Wait, do you think you can bring my laptop with you tomorrow?"

Shirley regarded him curiously for a moment and looked as though she wanted to ask questions, but nodded wordlessly at the end. "Sure thing," she beamed at him again before going out.

Lelouch let out a small suppressed sigh afterwards. "Okay, C.C. you can come out now," he croaked like a frog.

The ghostly image of a young girl with shiny green hair appeared right in front of him out of nowhere; he had thought she was hiding in the shadows in the corner. "I could come out anytime," she replied, "but I just wanted to give you couple some alone time."

"Couple?" If he hadn't been in such a bad state, he'd have snickered right then. "We're not a couple. We're just friends."

"Oh? It certainly doesn't look that way to her- what's her name again? Shirley?"

"That's not important- well, yes, her name is Shirley – but we need to talk," he said in all sudden seriousness.

C.C. floated toward the side of his bed and made-believe she sat down next to him. "About what?" she drawled while one hand played with her long hair.

"About what happened today. About your saving me. How was that even possible? I thought you said no one could see you but me."

She thought about it for a moment before answering slowly. "Well," she began. "The last statement is still very valid." She paused then started again, "Do you remember we were drowning in each other's minds for a moment?"

He nodded. "Of course. But how?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. I guess our bond is just too strong that it happened."

An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he narrowed his eyes at her. "You always say that," he pressed. "About how our bond was unbreakable, yet you never gave me an exact answer as to _why_ that occurred."

Her golden eyes studied him carefully. "Can you explain why you fall in love with someone?" she suddenly inquired.

Lelouch looked taken aback. "Well, that's…"

"Some things are mysteries in this world that can't be resolved," she spoke in a faraway tone, her eyes on him but they're looking through him to some infinite space beyond.

He sighed. This conversation had gone back to square one again. "Fine," he muttered. "But please tell me why you chose me."

"What?"

"I want to know why you picked me out of all the people."

She stared at him. This time, truly at him. "I didn't choose you," she answered. "_You _chose yourself."

"Okaay, be more specific. How the hell did I choose myself to be stuck with you? Moreover, if that's true, why would I want to do that?"

She threw him a dagger look. "You're too blunt sometimes, Lelouch," she said coldly, then leaned forward. Anger flashed in her eyes. "Like I said, I didn't choose you. I wouldn't be here with you if…"

"Wait, what did you say?"

"I said I wouldn't be here if…"

"Speak louder. Why are you whispering?"

"I'm not! I'm yelling at the top of my lungs now."

"Well, I can't hear you!" he snapped. What was she trying to pull? He couldn't hear the part after the 'if' at all as if it were muted.

Suddenly, she looked sober, all anger vanished from her pretty and pale face, and she spoke in a very low and almost inaudible voice. "You couldn't hear it, could you? I knew it. Now you know why I didn't tell you the reason the first time we met? It's not because I didn't want to; it's because I couldn't."

Lelouch's eyes widened to the point he thought they might bulge out as realization slowly sank in.

* * *

"I still don't understand why you would go to that part of the town, Lelouch!" exclaimed Suzaku for the tenth time when he, Kallen and Shirley paid their injured friend a visit in the next morning.

Lelouch took a small sip of the hot tea that Shirley had prepared and put in the Aluminum water bottle for him. He then took a few more minutes tasting the hnoey-flavored tea while trying to think of any convincing excuses beside the fact that he was easily fooled by a kid. When he came up with nothing and was aware of his friends' curious and impatient stares, Lelouch sighed, putting down the cup, and sat back in his bed.

"I was conned by a kid," he grumbled

"You were tricked?" Suzaku queried with a raised eyebrow.

Heaving another heavy sigh – apparently, he didn't want to bring up the horrible memories anymore but his friends would never let him off the hook unless he spilled out the truth – he nodded. "Yes, want to hear the whole tale?"

The three exchanged looks, then nodded half excitedly and half hesitantly. Lelouch couldn't help rolling his eyes playfully as he propped himself up on the bed using his elbows, and started relaying the whole event again.

When he'd finished, Shirley looked as though she's about to burst out crying. As a matter of fact, she whimpered slightly. "Poor, poor Lulu…"

Kallen looked baffled, and Suzaku was staring at him with wide emerald eyes.

"That's… that's just… Wow," he whispered.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "What's so 'wow' about it?"

"That you managed to make them go away at the end. How did you do that?"

Lelouch looked taken aback immediately. Oh god, seriously? What could he say that would have made sense? Oh wait a second, for the past few days, nothing makes sense at all, so why should he be nervous _now?_

He stirred slightly on the bed with a contemplated look on his face. "Well," he drawled. "I guess after I passed out, someone must have come to my rescue."

Suzaku looked like he just remembered something. "Come to think of it, when you called me, it was a woman's voice that spoke on the other end instead."

Lelouch sat upright on the bed suddenly, an action he soon regretted because pain shot through his ribs right at that moment. He winced but managed to ask, "A woman's voice?"

The brown-haired teen nodded. "Yeah, her voice was pretty distant and soft that I could barely hear anything, but then she mentioned you and that I was needed right away; I just knew you're in deep trouble."

Lelouch sat back and tilted his head against the puffy pillow. His violet orbs then traveled slightly to the right side at the slim figure sitting on the opened window's sill. Her back was to him and her lime hair was flowing in the wind. He closed his eyes for a second.

"Oh, and by the way," Suzaku added, "she sounded pretty frantic so that added to the tension."

Lelouch could feel the corner of his lips twitching as he whispered, "Ahh, I see."

"Do you know her, Lulu?" Shirley asked.

"No, probably just some bystander who saw what happened."

Kallen chimed in. "Then she definitely called the right person." She then nodded toward Suzaku.

"We just had a chat before I left for home so that's the first number on the calls list," Lelouch reasoned. Everything sounded so perfect so far.

"Too bad that she didn't stay with you until I got there because first of all, those people could have come back. Second, she should make sure you're okay – I mean, who would make a call and then leave an injured person by himself?" Suzaku said.

Lelouch opened his bright violet eyes at last and glanced toward the window, taking in the sight of C.C.'s transparent back. When he spoke, his voice was gentle. "No, Suzaku, I'm sure she stayed with me the whole time. She just wasn't there when you finally arrived."

* * *

That evening, when the visiting hour was over and the group left with many 'get well soon!s', Lelouch suddenly realized how exhausting he was just chilling out with his friends. It felt like his body was pushed to the limits with each passing hour, so it was shameful to admit that he was pretty glad when the nurse came in to announce it's time to leave.

Lelouch's gaze followed the nurse as she went to the other side of the room to close the window. He almost snickered when C.C. sat glued to her seat with a mild irritated frown on her face as the clueless nurse walked through her toward the window to close and bolt it safely.

When she's done, she smiled brightly at Lelouch, who returned the smile politely, then went out and closed the door soundlessly behind her.

"This sucks," C.C. complained, "I want the door opened. Lelouch, do it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like I'm in a position to do it?"

"Well, help me materialize again and I'll do it myself," she smirked, leaning forward with palms of hands placed on either side of her body and legs dangling freely over the edge. It was such a nice pose of her, Lelouch realized, unaware of his own blush. Her transparent body was in the twilight's way, so the glowing light was invited to shoot through it and reflected off the white floor, shining slightly at the spot where her long legs were.

Lelouch had to clear his throat and mentally kicked himself. Lately, he had been subconsciously paying attention to C.C.'s body more often than he'd like.

That didn't go unnoticed by her of course, but she let it slide since he had just come out of a near-death experience. C.C. flicked her long lime hair over her shoulder as she regarded him with a playful smile dancing on her rosy lips. "So, Lelouch, why did you ask for a computer?"

The raven-haired teen quickly regained himself and put on a composed and collected face as usual. Instead of answering C.C. immediately, he reached over and pulled out a black laptop from the bag that Shirley had brought for him. When he positioned said laptop on his lap, he glanced up at her and said, "To do some research on you."

The frown returned to her face once more. "Research?" she asked, then added nonchalantly. "Don't waste your time, you won't find anything."

He thought he had just winked at her when he replied, "You never know until you try."

C.C. just shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever suits you. Don't say I didn't warn you, though."

Thirty minutes later…

"Arg! Stupid laptop! Stupid Internet!"

C.C. bolted up from her little nap on the chair to the right of the bed, eyes glazed a little bit. "What happened?"

Instead of an answer, she was met with an accusing finger pointed at her face; her eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"You," said Lelouch through gritted teeth, finger still in place. "What's your real name?"

Realizing what's happening, C.C. felt her shoulders relax and she sat back, drawing her legs closer to herself and wrapping her arms around them. A look of annoying flashed across her face. "You're overdramatic, Lelouch," she murmured.

"What's your real name?" he pressed. "Because obviously 'C.C.' doesn't exist."

"I told you you'd only waste your time."

"C.C.," he said lowly, and she sighed. "It's useless. Go to sleep, Lelouch."

"I'm not giving up," said Lelouch with a firm determination. "I want to know how and why this happened, and whether I'm the only one this happened to."

She waved at him absentmindedly. "Good night." And just like that, she went back to her dream realm while he's stuck here doing research on something that may just be his mere imagination.

Heaving a small sigh of his own, Lelouch reached over to turn the light to a dimmer level, then went back to work.

"Okay, let's see," he murmured. "Dream and reality… ghost following you…" _Is she even a ghost?_

Nothing relevant came up.

He tried all the articles that had something, even the smallest piece, to do with his case. Nothing. Their discussions weren't a bit helful, though on one hand were certainly interesting and insightful yet on the other were a pile of useless documents. Sure they talked about ghosts and dreams and whatnot and what they all meant, but nothing really came close to what he's experiencing right now.

Lelouch felt bored and impatient after an hour passed. The frustration and irritation in him kept building up until he was sure they're going to explode when he randomly clicked on yet another aimless article. However, what he skimmed made the wheels in his head turning.

Summary: Spirits of the dead may still be lingering on the face of the earth when they have unfinished business with either loved or hated ones. Usually, if a person has an untimely death, be it accident or murder, they cannot move on.

Lelouch slowly turned his head to look at the girl sleeping soundly in the chair. It was a possibility that she died in an accident, but the look in her eyes when they first met was more sorrowful than that, and the 'Save me' should also be taken into account. Maybe she needed him to do something for her so that she could move on, but why him? Firstly, he didn't know her. Secondly, he's damned sure he wasn't at any location in which an accident may have happened for the past few months…

Something was tugging at the back of his memory, like he _had_ to remember it, but he simply couldn't. He just couldn't put his finger on it. So now, the possibility of her being in an accident was very slim that he had to cross it out. So did that mean...

Was this girl murdered?

* * *

A/N: I think I'll make this story my top priority right now since I have so many ideas floating around my head regarding this. So I'll try to squeeze this baby into my tight schedule and make sure the updates won't take forever.

Thank you for your patience and reading! Reviews are of course appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

* * *

**'**

He knew he was going crazy. There was no denying it now. It was so obvious that he curled himself into a ball beneath layers of blankets while clutching his hand in his hands as if trying to crush his skull and shutting his eyes tightly.

He was definitely going crazy.

Three days ago…

Lelouch woke up to see C.C. hovering above, staring down at him. He should have gotten used to it by now but somehow that gesture quite annoyed and creeped him out, knowing that someone was spying on him when asleep.

"Would you mind?" he grunted unhappily, and she shrugged. C.C. floated down next to him, made-believe she sat on the bed. Frankly, without the sunlight pouring through her transparent body as a telltale, he would have believed that she was a real girl, a touchable human being. Of course she wasn't. She was just a 'fragment of his dreams," as she liked to call it. Not ghost.

"You were sleeping like the dead," commented C.C. as he tried to sit up. The throbbing pain in his head and the upper half of his body was unbearable that he had to slop down on the bed again. Even a small feat like that was enough to coax sweat out of him. Lelouch sighed.

"I should have stayed in the hospital," he murmured.

"You were fine last week," said C.C.

"I was. Not anymore." He made sure to put a big emphasis on 'anymore.' Really, just a couple of days ago, he felt as strong as Suzaku, as if he could do anything physical-related. For instance, run a marathon. Well, not really. That was an exaggeration since Lelouch could never, ever, jog, let alone run. But still, he felt much better than this and he wondered why.

C.C. conveniently provided a reason. "That's what happens when you keep staying at home and doing nothing but lounging around on the bed," she pointed out flatly.

Ahh, that must be it.

Even though he was signed out of the hospital due to his impressive progress, Lelouch didn't want to come back to school just yet. The fact that his acquaintances would be too curious for his liking and ask many questions regarding the incident in the valley and how the hell he survived, combined with the occasional headaches that kept pounding inside his skull, Lelouch decided to take a few days off to first, get better. Secondly, to let the gossip, rumor, whatever it's called, die out.

The plan backfired.

He was getting worse, not better.

"Let's go out, Lelouch," C.C. was saying with golden orbs studying him carefully.

Lelouch reached up one hand to touch his forehead. The headache was gradually disappearing so he thought a couple of hours of walking wouldn't do much damage.

"Okay," he said at last.

* * *

"Let's get pizza," C.C. said while floating ahead of him.

It was a sunny, beautiful day, and it would be a real waste to just stay indoors, so Lelouch was glad he followed her advice for once. Regardless of the busy street with a myriad of people walking back and forth, slightly brushing his shoulders more than he preferred, he wasn't in a sour mood. The clear, cloudless skies probably were a huge factor.

But he had to admit that it was hot. Very hot. He was sweating already, and he guessed it was a lucky thing he had decided to wear a simple white shirt with black pants, and not something elaborate or fancy or complicated, because at the moment he felt like ripping the shirt off and walking around half-naked. Immoral of him indeed.

"Why pizza?" he asked. One good thing about having hundreds of people walking by his sides was that no one would notice that he was talking to himself. In his case, talking to someone no one else could see.

C.C. floated back and 'walked' beside him, saying. "That's my favorite food."

"You can't eat, anyway," he pointed out dryly. Did he need to remind her that she wasn't of this world?

She shot him a cold look. So cold that it made him rethink about taking his shirt off. "I can still see and smell it. And besides…" she trailed off, dropping her gaze.

"What?"

"Well," she glanced up at him, hesitated for a split second, then said, "Remember what happened at the valley?"

"How could I forget?" They were approaching the pizza parlor soon.

She sucked in a breath as if this topic were difficult to address. To him, it certainly was. It brought back the pain that didn't want to go away yet. Still lingering. Finally, she spoke. "If you believe in me. If you have more faith in me, I could eat, I guess."

He stopped in his tracks. He knew she'd say that, exactly that, but that didn't mean he was prepared for it. Especially not so long after the incident. She would expect him to go through the pain again?

Oh wait, something's not right…

The mutual bond they shared was nothing close to painful. In fact, it was warm like milk that just got out of the microwave, and full of happy, joyous feelings. Feelings that he hadn't felt in awhile. The bond was special. It gave him strength. Gave both of them strength.

The thing that was painful was the blows he received from the thugs. _Don't mix them up, Lelouch, _he mused.

The feeling that someone was staring at him pulled him back to reality, and Lelouch cleared his throat. "I can do that?"

"Of course you can," she answered as if he had asked that question a thousand times, and she gave the same reply a thousand times. Probably he did.

"No, I mean if I could believe in you more than I do right now, you can touch objects and eat?"

"Like a normal human being, yes."

He pondered for a few seconds. "Does that mean I'm closer to finding out the truth?"

A sad smile tugged at her lips. "I believe so."

Her confirmation boosted up his confidence and inner strength. He's close to the treasure, he knew it. Just a few more deliberate steps, combined with patience, more faith, and critical thinking, and he would hit home.

A reassuring smile crossed his face, knowing that he almost reached his goal, Lelouch took a long stride in an effort to cross the intersection before the lights turned red.

He could feel C.C.'s floating speed increase to catch up with his. Then someone bumped into him. Not brushing his shoulder like people had been doing, but actually bumping, leaving him stagger a bit. The bump wasn't entirely purposeful. As if the person who had done that had no balance in walking in that split moment, thus colliding into another pedestrian. It was half accidental, but somehow it was strong enough to knock Lelouch off his feet for a second.

After Lelouch regained his balance and before the one who bumped into him disappeared into the flowing crowd, Lelouch caught only a glimpse of his hair. His white-as-snow hair.

"An 'excuse me' would be appropriate," murmured Lelouch before resuming his previous pace.

When he reached the pizza parlor – he'd decided that it was the least he could do to properly thank her for saving him in the alley. He promised himself he'd try his best to help her materialize again, knowing it would take a huge amount of effort, but he owed her that.

Lelouch gazed at the display of various hot, steaming pizza slices, and spoke, "Which one do you want, C.C.?"

No response.

"C.C.?" He whipped his head around only to find no one beside him.

* * *

Tracing back the way they went, he looked for her.

"C.C.," called Lelouch softly, turning this way and that, hoping to catch a glimpse of lustrous green hair in the dimming sunlight. "Where are you? Come on out."

He remembered her telling him that she would always be there with him. Wherever he went, whenever, it didn't matter. She would never leave his side. It was a connection that they shared since he accidentally 'pulled' her out of his dreams. So her disappearing without a warning made him doubt that statement and rethink about the possibility of coming close to finding out the truth.

Lelouch stopped in his tracks. So far, still no signs of her, and he wondered how he should come up with a way to look for her. How he should think of a way to describe her to other people.

As he was musing, someone came up from behind and tapped him on the shoulder, making Lelouch flinch a bit. "Hey," said the newcomer.

"Kenji?" said Lelouch. He and Kenji weren't close like he was with Suzaku, or Kallen and Shirley. In actuality, they only had a few classes together and hung out with different group of friends, so chances of them talking frequently were as slim as a sheet of paper. Still, Kenji had been very nice and smart. Though they were mere acquaintances, Lelouch would love to know the guy more.

Kenji gave him a look-over. "What are you doing here, skipper?" he asked. A joking smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Haven't seen you in days. You have no idea how much you've missed." He said and there's this sarcastic sympathy and pity in his voice. He knew Lelouch would never fail a class even if he were to be absent for half the school year.

Lelouch chuckled, temporarily forgetting the task at hand, and replied, "I have actually been studying on my own, for your information, so there's no chance I'll be failing this semester."

Kenji grinned, showing his perfectly white teeth. "So what's up? What are you doing in the center square anyway?" He took a step forward. Lelouch took the hint and started walking so both of them were walking side-by-side while talking at the same time.

"I'm looking for someone," answered Lelouch.

"Ooooh your girlfriend?" Kenji gave his head a disapproval shake. It would have looked as if he were being serious if not for the huge grin that was splitting his face. "Gotta tell Shirley that."

Lelouch couldn't help suppressing a sigh. "Why does everyone keep assuming we're a couple?"

Kenji elbowed him in the ribs playfully. "Because you two are always together, duh," he said.

"Because we're _best friends_," corrected Lelouch, and Kenji just laughed.

"Uh huh," the red-haired teen replied dismissively as if he didn't buy that. In fact no one did when Lelouch gave the same answer. It was time to come up with a new, more convincing one.

Lelouch shook his head. "Is your house this way?" he said, moving the conversation to another less awkward direction.

"It's ways back."

"Then why are we going this way?"

"I'm just following you." He shrugged. And Lelouch smiled. That's one thing he liked about this guy. He was just so chilling and easy-going.

"Come on, let's look for whoever you're looking for," Kenji suggested.

Lelouch whipped his head around. "I don't know where she went."

"Where was it that you last saw her?"

"In front of the piz-"

That was when everything came crumbling down on Lelouch.

The weight of his situation. The weight of the truth, of reality. It all came crashing down mercilessly.

Lelouch froze. His face paled.

No one could see C.C. No one could feel her presence. She was just a 'fragment of his dreams." Only he could talk to her. Only he knew about her existence. No one else could.

Who's to say that she wasn't made up? Who's to say that she wasn't just a fragment of his imagination? That all this time he had been talking to himself?

Talking to himself… It felt like déjà-vu, because that's what he did after Nunnally died. That's the sole reason he spent almost a year in a mental institute.

It's happening again.

That realization was so hard and surreal that for a moment Lelouch just stood there, glued to the ground. His eyes were bulging and his nerves were racing, threatening to burst open. Finally, finally, his knees started to buckle and knock together. His hands felt liquid-like, and he couldn't feel anything when he flexed and unflexed them. As if his entire being were made of air.

Lelouch staggered back. He felt someone catch his elbow, trying to steady him. But it was no use because he couldn't keep his legs under control anymore. They, too, had become liquid-like.

"Lelouch? Hey, what's the matter?" someone was saying, but it all sounded distant.

Lelouch had to escape from here. From the horrible truth.

He yanked his arm hard from whoever was holding them and ran in an unknown direction, where his wobbly legs were taking him.

He still heard that familiar voice, though its volume increased ten-folds, but he couldn't stop. He wouldn't. He had to get out of here_ fast._

* * *

He threw himself on the bed, clutching his head tightly in his hands and whispering like a maniac. "I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy," he repeated with tightly shut eyes. "I'm not!"

_How can I? _He thought dizzily. _She was right here. In the middle of the room. Talking to me. She was sleeping right next to me. _He opened his eyes and wildly looked to his right, as if hoping to see the familiar ghost lying there. Nothing but darkness.

_It's not my imagination. I could feel her presence…_

_We talked. Her voice was clear… No mistaking it. She was here._

_It's not my imagination… She… she… saved me!_

_That's it! _Lelouch's eyes popped open at the realization. What happened at the valley where the thugs ganged up on him and beat the crap out of him, it was her who stepped in and saved the day. He still remembered how it felt when their minds and feelings connected to give her strength. It was blissful that he wanted to shut out all the other feelings just to give room for that particular one to grow.

How could all of that be his imagination? Unless…

Unless someone _real_ actually came to his rescue. Lelouch shut his eyes again. Someone who saw how beaten-up he was and felt pity for the teenager so they jumped in and gave the thugs a taste of their own medicine. To be honest, he was pretty hazy at that point, so his memories of then could not be trusted entirely. All he actually did remember was the blurry image of a figure attacking the thugs, calling his name, and dialing Suzaku's phone.

What if it was no one but Lelouch who called Suzaku?

Suzaku did say that there was a woman's voice at the other end and it sounded so weak and distant that he could barely make out the words. What if it had been Lelouch? In that miserable state, there's no doubt that he sounded like a weakling with a high-pitched voice similar to a high school girl's.

"No… No… It can't be happening again," murmured Lelouch. He suddenly felt a hotness sensation on his cheeks and knew right away he was crying. But he had no effort left to wipe the tears that poured out during his musings.

"I'm not… I can't… I'm not crazy…" he said in a cracked voice. That argument was so weak now that he currently seriously doubted his mental stability.

At the end, what it all came down to was there was no proof to prove C.C.'s existence.

Lelouch cried himself to sleep.

The next day and the day after that, Lelouch just buried himself under layers of blanket. The house was dark because he didn't bother to draw the curtains. Dust was gathering a little in the smallest corners, and the whole interior was getting cold. But he didn't care. All he wanted to do was sleep, to get away from reality for once, to bury himself in happy memories before the lung cancer took his sister away. More than occasionally, he sobbed. And once in awhile, he would open his eyes and hazily searched for the green-haired girl. No one was inside the house but his miserable self.

At last, when three days, though it seemed like an eternity, had passed and C.C. made no reappearance, Lelouch weakly fumbled for the phone. When he reached it, he slowly and painfully dragged the receiver to his ear while dialing a familiar number.

After three rings, the person on the other end answered. "Hello?"

"Suzaku…" Lelouch said in a barely audible voice.

"Lelouch?" He could hear the concern in his best friend's voice.

It took all Lelouch got to get out the next few words. "Suzaku, call the institute. It's happening again… I'm going to crazy again."

* * *

Thank you for reading. Reviews would be appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

"_These are your favorite ice cream flavors, aren't they?"_

"…"

"_Ah, that's right. Of course I remember. Last time you got a stomachache because you tried something you shouldn't."_

"_Lelouch…"_

"_But don't worry, this time I surely got the right ones for you, Nunnally."_

"_Please…"_

"_Vanilla and strawberry. You always-"_

"_Lelouch! Nunnally is dead!"_

'

"Lelouch… Lelouch, wake up…"

His heavy eyelids slowly forced themselves open.

"Wake up, honey. You have a visitor."

The first thing he saw a white face with gentle eyes staring down at him.

"If you don't feel well, I can tell her to come back another time."

_Her? Nunnally? No, I want to see her. I want to see my sister!_

"Nunnally…" he croaked out. The nurse instantly tensed as a small frown appeared on her forehead. "It's your friend, Lelouch," she said, tugging at his shoulder to make sure he's awake and not sleep-talking. "Her name is Shirley."

'

"How are you feeling, Lulu?" asked the orange-haired girl with a worried look evident on her face. She must have come straight from school, Lelouch decided as he smiled at her. Shirley was still in her uniform. Her long hair was let down in the back with only a few strands were being tied at the back of her head. She'd always donned that hairstyle, and she knew that he liked long hair, so perhaps that's why she'd refused to cut it and sworn to grow it out.

"I'm fine. Thanks for coming, Shirley," he said, gesturing for her to sit down. She did.

Every time she visited, they always came to the cafeteria where they would sit in a quiet corner, away from people and the relatively loud chattering. Lelouch would offer to buy her a drink or sometimes something to eat, and every time, she always shook her head. The only thing she allowed him to get for her on occasions was hot tea.

His best friend was smiling brightly. "It's good to see you doing well, Lulu. How are they treating you? How's the food? Have you become acquainted with anyone yet?"

Lelouch couldn't help but smile weakly. These were like routine questions. She came and asked them and he'd answer them as sincerely as he could, because first of all, the food was bad; there wasn't a lot of options. Secondly, he wasn't here to make friends. He was here to heal his mental state, which wasn't doing quite so well as he tried to put a brave front on.

"Like last time and the time before that," the raven-haired teen replied as if he'd memorized the script. "Everything's great. This place is nice. The people are friendly. I-" He bit his tongue.

"What?" she pressed, leaning forward in anticipation.

"I stopped seeing things," he concluded quietly.

A pause stretched out between them before Shirley spoke, "Isn't that good, Lulu?" Her sincere, understanding smile was back. "I'm sure the others will be glad to hear it, too!"

Something was on his face. Something so fake and untrue and false was being glued on his face, and it hurt so much because everytime he tried to wipe it off, it felt like he was peeling off his own skin. Then, he realized it was his forged smile.

"Yeah, it is," he said, swallowing unconsciously.

Suddenly, she reached out and grasped his hands, gripping them between her palms. A look of bafflement simultaneously crossed Lelouch's face as his eyes widened. Her own green orbs, however, only reflected the deep concern and sadness that he'd never seen in them before.

"Lulu..." she began, stopped, opened her mouth again, closed, swallowed, then continued. "Lulu, please come home. This is enough. It's been two months and you're improving! You're no longer imagining things. We…" She paused for the second time before going on, "We need you. _I _need you, Lulu."

Time seemed to stop for both of them.

"Shirley…" How could he blatantly lie to her like that? How could he twist the truth and make her believe something so false?

_Liar. Liar. Liar! You're still seeing her. You're still talking to Nunnally in the dark when no one's watching. _

"No…" he whimpered.

"Lulu?"

_Liar! You think she's alive but she's not, yet you're refusing to see the sole fact that she's buried hundred of feet below you. Just lying there, rotting…_

"Stop it…"

_You think no one's watching? Ha! How foolish! You are watching your own actions, your own pathetic little-_

"Shut up!"

"Lelouch!"

"Please, ma'am, you have to leave!" A nurse and a security guy rushed into the cafeteria at the sounds of shouting and furniture smashing, effectively swirled around the table that had just been knocked over.

While the muscular security man grabbed Lelouch's wrists and pinned them behind his back in an effort to stop him from throwing another piece of furniture around, the nurse quickly injected a needle into the teen's arm, paying no mind to the latter's deafening screams.

She then solemnly looked over to the horrified orange-haired girl and said sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

As they dragged the drug-sedated Lelouch toward his assigned room, Shirley could only stand there, glued to the ground, with arms hung limpless on either side of her. There were streams of tears flowing uncontrollably down her reddening cheeks.

'

"_Big brother… Why… Why do you keep doing this?"_

"_No… No, Nunnally, don't cry…"_

"_Why, big brother?"_

_"I'm doing it for you, what else?"_

"_No, you're doing it for yourself! You're too mean, big brother. Even in death, you won't let me find peace."_

Lelouch's eyes popped open immediately, and the bright morning sunlight poured into them, hurting them but he could care less. He wouldn't care if he'd gone blind after this.

A slight tinge in his left arm caused him to look down. A needle's mark, Lelouch noted idly as he brought said arm up to stare the tiny puncture spot. Events from yesterday afternoon flushed back unpleasantly and he shut his eyes tightly while biting down onto his lower lip.

He had hurt Shirley, he knew. He had hurt her both emotionally and physically.

"I'm sorry, Shirley…" he whispered to no one in particular. "I don't deserve to have a friend like you."

Then, he sat up and slowly dragged himself out of bed. Crazy or not, he's still a human being with a functioning mind, and lying in bed all day thinking about things that had happened, could have happened or should have happened wouldn't help. There was a line between crazy and insane, and he'd made sure to never cross it.

'

The cafeteria was as busy as ever. It didn't seem like the missing table was going to affect the business much. Lelouch sighed and brought up his hand to ruffle his soft raven locks. He needed a cup of coffee like right now. As he ambled toward the black coffee maker on the counter on the other side of the cafeteria with one hand dug in his pocket, an older man appeared in his path.

"Morning," the man said cheerfully.

"Morning," replied Lelouch much less cheerfully. He tried to walk around the man but the latter shoved something in his chest so suddenly that he slightly staggered back.

"What-"

"Read it," ordered the stranger.

"Why?"

"Look at the cover."

He looked and one eyebrow shot up high. "And?" he said coldly.

The older man, probably in his 30s, leaned in close and Lelouch inadvertently took one step back. "You're smart. The smartest one around here." He glanced around then focused back on the puzzled raven-haired teen's face. "I know what happened last night. Uhmmm not a good way to get on the good side of the staff."

"I don't care-"

"Read," repeated the man again, a bit more forcefully this time. Then without waiting for any sort of reaction from the confused teen, he walked away whilst whistling a nameless, off-key tune.

"What the…" Lelouch casted a closer look at the hardcover book in his hand, and wondered what in the world made that guy do what he just did.

'

Frankly, Lelouch never expected himself to stay up so late that night to finish the book. He didn't even know what was so appealing about it that drew him in as he kept on reading and reading until dawn almost broke.

'

As expected, the raven-haired teen found the man from yesterday sitting at one of the long tables in the cafeteria. The latter was sipping coffee leisurely while staring out the window at the clear morning skies.

The book was dropped lightly onto the table in front of him and he glanced up curiously. "What's this?" asked Lelouch, motioning toward the object.

"It's… a book."

"I mean, what I meant to say was why did you give it to me?" he quickly corrected himself as soon as he saw the confusion crossing the older man's face.

The nameless man narrowed his eyes at him. "You read it?"

"Of course, and I was-"

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed, cutting the teen off in the process. His green eyes brightened. "I knew you were smart! I knew you could handle it." A grin was stretching from one ear to another on his face.

"You didn't answer my question," said Lelouch impatiently.

"Ah. Well, sit down. Get a cup of coffee and we can talk about this."

Reluctantly, the teen sat down next to him, leaving a wide space between them and anxiously waiting for an explanation.

The man was still grinning as he reached out one hand. "My name is Shinji," he said. Lelouch stared down at said hand and slowly took it. "Lelouch," he said simply, then withdrew.

Shinji, a man with dirty blond hair, bright green eyes, an easygoing and excitable attitude, and perfect teeth that he was so proud of that he always bared them whenever he got an opportunity to.

"So, Lelouch," Shinji said as he tapped the book lightly. "What do you make of it?"

"It's a psychological book that deals with emotions and thoughts and how those two connect with each other, and affect our daily lives."

"Hmmm," drawled the blonde with a contemplative look. "Do you like the cover?"

Lelouch glanced down and nodded. "It conveys the message of the book pretty well, I'd say."

Shinji followed Lelouch's gaze and smiled. The girl on the cover was slightly lifting her head up so she was looking above and not directly at the reader. Her long, shiny black hair was flowing softly behind her. What stood out the most, though, were her strange eyes. You couldn't really see their color or what shape they took because there were two bright golden butterflies being stationed in the place where her orbs should have been. Their wings were spread wide and looked as if they're ready to depart. Her pink lips were slightly parted as if she was in a trance.

When Lelouch first noticed the cover, he thought those creatures were going to fly out of there any second. That's how real the art made it look like.

A sigh escaped Lelouch's lips as he went on. "Why did you give this book to me?"

"Because I thought you'd need it."

"How so?"

"Because you don't believe."

A brief pause. "What?"

"The girl," Shinji explained. His coffee cup was getting cold and abandoned. "Why is she rejected by society?"

Lelouch's black eyebrows creased slightly as he racked his brain for details. "She has this special ability where she can see the future," he echoed out his thoughts. "A vision, as she's called it. But everyone hates it and is afraid of her, afraid of what she's capable of."

Shinji was nodding encouragingly. "That's right. You forgot one thing though. She can't see the future anytime she wants."

Lelouch pondered for a second before agreeing. "You're right. Whenever she's happy and feels safe, the ability emerges, and whenever she's upset, everything's gone and she can't access that gift of hers, or 'curse' in her point of view."

"But she doesn't really want that, does she?"

"No."

"Why's that?"

"Because…" Lelouch trailed off. His eyes suddenly found a captivating spot in the far skies above. The few clouds that were up there were lazily swimming about, and the sounds of the mockingbirds nearby could be heard clearly. He cleared his throat and continued. "Because there's a boy that believes in her. He thinks her ability is unique and can be used to prevent tragedy from happening. That's why he always tries to make her happy and content, because that's the only time she can fully use her power."

"He likes what she can do," Shinji was smiling as he took over the storytelling. "He likes seeing the butterflies whenever she has a vision."

Lelouch chuckled. "Right, butterflies. Anytime it happens, there's always a butterfly nearby, isn't there?"

"Did you finish the book?"

"Yes." Lelouch suddenly felt a wave of mild sadness wash over him.

"I knew it's bound to happen eventually. After all, he really loves her." Shinji was speaking as if he himself was in a trance. Lelouch was still gazing at that invisible spot in the skies.

"Be happy…"

"What?" Shinji snapped back to the teen who was speaking with a haze over his eyes.

"That's what he tells her at the end. 'Be happy, don't cry. Now is your chance to finally be normal again.'"

Silence engulfed the pair as they both got immersed in the story once again. Outside, the chattering of the mockingbirds was gradually decreasing into quietness.

Suddenly, Shinji leaned in close and Lelouch reflexively flinched, shifting back. "You know why I'm here?" the former asked in a low voice as if he's afraid others would be eavesdropping.

Lelouch shook his head. The older man went on, "Because only in here that I can see the girl."

If the pause was brief before, it certainly was a bit longer this time. "You're kidding," the raven-haired teen chuckled half-heartedly, though there was something stirring in his guts at the mere thought of that.

"I'm not," Shinji declared confidently. He looked about them then turned around again. "Look, all you gotta do is believe. Oh…"

"What?" Instinctively, Lelouch spun around in his seat, following the blonde's mesmerized gaze.

Shinji was pointing toward the dim corner of the cafeteria with one trembling finger. A small, wild smile was blossoming on his face as he softly spoke. "There she is… In the corner… Isn't she such a beauty?" His lips parted further as he shakily stood up and staggered toward his destination. "Look, butterflies… There are butterflies everywhere. Ahh, she's so pretty, Lelouch…"

Lelouch could only gape after him and swallowed. Then, he struggled to get up and made a beeline for his room.

'

"Am I like that?" Lelouch whispered that night into the darkness. The lights were turned off and he was lying in his bed with hands rested behind his head, and eyes glued to the bright full moon just on the other side of the window. "Am I like that whenever I make-believe that Nunnally's still alive?" he asked louder this time.

"I'm not like Shinji… I'm… I'm not insane…" He bit down onto his lower lip.

_But he talks to someone who doesn't exist. He sees someone who isn't there. Just like you. You and your sister._

"That's not true," he said hoarsely. His teeth dug deeper into the sensitive skin of his lip, drawing blood. Lelouch flinched slightly when its taste spread across his tongue, and he shut his eyes tightly. "Go away."

_How can I? After all, I am you. We are one._

"We're nothing alike!"

"Geez, Lelouch. I leave you alone for a while, and you seriously get worse."

The raven-haired teen threw his eyes open and sat up so abruptly that he suddenly felt all blood draining from his head. Staring the sight in front of him, his already wide eyes widened considerably with lips apart.

"C-C.C…"

There, standing so casually in front of him was a certain green-haired girl. Her long hair cascaded down to the small of her back. Her glittering golden orbs were half-lidded, and a lazy smile was dancing on her pale face. Her posture reminded him so much of the first time they met.

C.C. left her leaning position on the table and walked – no, _floated _– toward him. She only stopped when she was standing directly by the end of his twin-size bed. "Hello, Lelouch," she said emotionlessly.

A terrified look settled over Lelouch's face. His lips trembled, and he rolled over to one side, hugging his head in his hands and curled himself up into a ball. "No, no… Not again... You're not real. You're just my imagination, so go away!"

Silence.

"A 'welcome back' would be nice," she said dryly.

"You're not real!"

"I am, Lelouch."

He lifted his head and glared at her, as if glaring would make her disappear. "No, you're not," he said resolutely through tightly gritted teeth. "You're just a fragment of my imagination."

C.C. mulled it over. "I thought I was a fragment of your 'dreams,' and not 'imagination.'"

"It's not funny!" he shouted, at which she rolled her eyes.

"Keep at it, boy, and they'll come and sedate you with drug again." Just as she'd expected, that was enough to shut him up for a short while.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. "Wait a second, how do you know I was sedated? Wait, don't answer that, because you're not real. You're in my head."

A tiny smirk made its way onto her translucent face. "That's not entirely true, Lelouch. Our consciousness is connected, so I'm aware of whatever happens to you," she explained in that famous monotone of hers.

"Then prove it to me," he pressed. "How do I know you're not just made up? And that you're actually speaking the truth?"

The green-haired girl stared at him for a good long minute in which uncomfortable silence resided. Then, she said two words that shook his world. "Your sister."

"My-my sister?"

"Despite your attempts to hide it, I know you're still talking to her, and I know that somewhere deep in your subconscious, you still believe that she's alive and living somewhere."

There was a lump in his throat and he swallowed it painfully. "How…?"

"Like I said, our minds are connected. I know what you're thinking and feeling."

"But I can never hear your thoughts."

Her eyes turned subtly softer. "Because you haven't fully believed in me yet."

Silence ensued as he tried to wrap his mind around the recent discovery.

"I can help you, Lelouch," C.C. said as she stepped closer. Placing her transparent hand over his, she whispered. "I can rid your subconscious of her and make things go back to the way they were. I can help you get your life back together."

He looked up at her with glistening eyes. "I don't want to forget her, C.C. I _can't_."

C.C. took in a deep breath, and suddenly he could feel the weight of her small hand on his. He gasped. "You have to, Lelouch."

"C.C., your hand…"

"That's the power of belief, Lelouch." The green-haired girl withdrew and straightened her back. "So do we have a deal or not?" she queried.

"What's in it for you?"

"You're going to help me cr…"

"What?"

A sigh escaped her rosy lips. "Seems like it's still not working, but at least you were able to hear a small bit of it." There was a tired note in her voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he inquired. He wanted to understand the terms completely before agreeing to her arrangement.

She threw him a blank stare. "Doesn't matter. What you need to know is that I can help you get your sanity back, and in return, you're going to help me fulfill a wish."

Lelouch's delicate raven brows furrowed together. As desperately curious as he was, he was also aware of the fact that pressing this stubborn girl wouldn't yield any wanted results, so he gave in at last with a small sigh.

"Fine," he murmured. "I agree to your terms."

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

A/N: An update on this story!? *gasps* After all these years!? Yeah, that's right, I don't know why I suddenly got this strong urge to finish this particular story LOL! I can't make any promises that update will be frequent because school is starting soon, but I'll try my very best to not let you guys hanging there for long. Therefore, for now, my main priority will be this story and maybe some one-shots if they happen to pop into my head and refuse to leave -_- So yeah, I hope you still enjoy reading this story and following it, considering it's been ages since I last updated LOL. Thank you, thank you for everything and of course reviews are love!


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